


Shepherd's Song

by Kiraly



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Love Confessions, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 04:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8235520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiraly/pseuds/Kiraly
Summary: Reynir has something to tell Tuuri that just can't wait any more. He can't put it in a letter, but luckily one of his mage school peers has a better idea.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic is the same as the title of the song that inspired it: [Shepherd's Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiWWGfnKLW4) by Katzenjammer. Every time I hear it I think of these two, so it was only a matter of time before it turned into a fic.

“I swear I’m going to do it this time, Flossy. I’m going to sit down and write it as soon as I wake up. _I have something important to tell you_ , I’ll say, _It’s been on my mind for a while, and I can’t keep silent any longer. You see, I actually have feelings for_ —HEY!”

Reynir jerked his head back from the sheep, who had decided she was more interested in snacking on his hair than listening to him compose a love letter. His fylgja barked at her, but she merely blinked and kept chewing. Someone behind Reynir giggled.

He turned around with a sigh. “Enjoying yourselves?”

A gaggle of girls poured out from behind the scattered rocks of Reynir’s dream haven. They clustered around him, still laughing.

“I hope your girlfriend reacts better than your brain-sheep,” one of them said. She tugged Reynir’s braid and dodged away before he could respond in kind.

“Yeah,” another chimed in, “don’t date someone who wants to take a bite out of you!”

Reynir frowned. “She doesn’t bite, and she’s _not_ my girlfriend!”

“Not _yet!”_ they chorused.

“And she won’t _ever_ be if you don’t work up the nerve to ask her,” Lilja said. At fifteen, she’d had three girlfriends already and considered herself the local expert.  Reynir wasn’t sure he should _really_ be taking advice from someone whose most successful relationship had lasted less than two months, but his options were thin on the ground. It was either his mage school peers—the eldest of whom was five years his junior—or the dream sheep.

“I don’t know why you’re waiting,” Lilja continued. “Just write her a letter and say ‘Tuuri, I love you and I want to be with you forever, please come kiss me and have my babies.’ What’s so hard about that?”

The rest of the girls dissolved into giggles, and Reynir fought to keep his blush under control. “I am _not_ saying that! I’m not even sure I should say it in a letter at all! What if someone else reads it?”

“So what if someone does? Half of Iceland knows you love her, you talk about her all the time! It won’t matter if one or two more people find out.”

The problem was, there were people who Reynir did _not_ want to find out before Tuuri did. People like the rest of the Silent World crew, or Tuuri’s brother Onni. That was the other reason he was getting advice from teenage girls instead of his adult friends. He shuddered at the thought of how Onni would react if Reynir waltzed into his haven and asked for tips on dating his sister. And other than Tuuri herself, the only crew member who could read Icelandic was Mikkel. Reynir couldn’t imagine how _he_ would react, but knowing his sense of humor it wouldn’t end well.

“If you don’t want to put it in writing, why not go visit her instead?” That was Kjersti, the most sensible of the group. “I bet she’d be really happy to see you.”

“But we’re not back in Reykjavik for another three months!” Reynir said. He and the girls were away from the Academy, scattered around the country to get firsthand experience with the spells protecting the borders. Since they couldn’t see each other in person, they’d started meeting in the dream world to study and exchange gossip.

Kjersti rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to wait until they send us all back, silly. The term break is coming up, right? Go then.”

“Huh.” Reynir stopped to consider that idea. He had planned to use the time to visit his family, but it wasn’t like they _needed_ him at the farm. One of his sisters was home on leave for a few months, and they’d hired on some extra help when it became clear that Reynir would be away at the Academy for some time. _It would be nice to see them, but...they’ll understand. And it’s not like I’ll be that far away. Compared to the Silent World, Reykjavik is close_ . He sometimes forgot that the capital city was so nearby, just like he had trouble convincing himself that Tuuri was actually _here,_ in his country, instead of in distant Keuruu. Her job with the Nordic Council was going well, according to her letters, and from the sound of things she might be in Iceland for a few more years at least. Reynir hoped so. A few years would give him time to complete his training, and then...well. What happened next would depend on Tuuri’s response when he confessed his feelings. _If_ he ever worked up the nerve.

“I’ll think about it,” he said. “But we’re not supposed to be talking about my love life, we’re supposed to be practicing. Why are all of you here, anyway? I thought we were meeting in Kjersti’s haven tonight.”

Lilja elbowed him in the ribs. “We _did_ meet there, but since you didn’t show up we thought you must be here mooning over your _giiiirlfriend.”_

The other girls laughed and chimed in with their own teasing.

“Oh Tuuri, I miss you sooooo much!”

“I’m so lonely without you!”

“If you won’t kiss me I’ll have to kiss a sheep instead!”

Reynir weathered their laughter—it wasn’t as though he had any other choice—but in spite of their silliness, he couldn’t help thinking that maybe there was some merit to Kjersti’s idea. _Reykjavik. It’s really not that far._

 

* * *

 

Tuuri trudged home, shifting the bag of groceries to one arm and pulling her coat closer to ward off the drizzle. Reykjavik had its charms, but nowhere in the Known World was safe from miserable weather. Normally, Tuuri didn’t mind. Rain or no rain, she knew she was lucky to be here. She still couldn’t believe, sometimes, that she had a job with the Nordic Council. She got to spend her days translating and cataloging rare books, and once in a while she pulled double duty as a Finnish interpreter. And she got _paid_ to do it! It should have been a dream come true, and it was...mostly. She just hadn’t expected to be so lonely.

It wasn’t that she had _no_ friends. Plenty of her coworkers were good for a drink or a casual chat. But she missed the close camaraderie of the Silent World crew. Found herself wishing for Mikkel’s dry humor and Sigrun’s enthusiasm, Emil’s bluster and the way he doted on her cousin. And of course she missed Lalli, too, even though she knew he and Emil were happy with their life in Mora. Onni was in Mora too; that was some comfort, knowing her family members were together. It didn’t stop the ache in her chest when she went back to her empty apartment every night, though.

She paused in the lobby of her building to check for mail. That was her other way of dealing with loneliness: reading and writing letters. Most of her friends wrote less often now, since they’d fallen into their own routines and grown used to not seeing each other every day. But Reynir’s letters still came at least once a week. He wrote the way he talked, jumping from one subject to another, and the little glimpses into his life as a mage student always cheered her up. _It’s too bad he’s away at Eskifjörður for so long,_ she thought, closing the empty mailbox with a sigh. _It would be nice if we could see each other once in a while. I guess they keep the students too busy to travel. Maybe when they’re back at the Academy he’ll have a little free time._

Truth be told, as much as she cherished his letters, they also made her miss him more. Words on a page were no substitute for a living, breathing person. Sometimes she caught herself turning to relate some amusing anecdote she’d found while transcribing a book, only to remember that she wasn’t in the tank and Reynir wasn’t there to laugh with her. She missed his laugh, and missed the way he’d perched on the edge of her desk, keeping her company while she worked. Sometimes she half-expected to turn a corner and trip over him, just like old times.

Even so, when she turned the corner and tripped over him, she wasn’t expecting it at all.

“Oof!” She went down hard, landing in a heap of elbows and groceries. “What the—who—” She attempted to extract herself, but there were too many flailing limbs to untangle. When they both stopped moving long enough for her to make sense of what was going on, she found herself face-to-face with Reynir, sprawled halfway on top of him.

“Oh my gods, what are you _doing_ here?” She couldn’t decide whether to hug him or shake him.

Reynir grinned. “Haha, well...break from school, and Reykjavik visit...thought I’d surprise you. So...surprise?”

The impulse to hug him won out. Awkward and uncomfortable as it was, with both of them knotted up on the floor and a battered grocery bag between them, Tuuri thought it was the best hug she’d had in months. Then she pulled away and struggled to her feet. “Well. I’m certainly surprised. It’s so good to see you!”

Reynir accepted her outstretched hand and managed to get upright. “It’s good to see you too! I’ve really missed you, and...oh, no, your poor groceries! Here, let me help.”

Together they gathered the scattered contents of Tuuri’s shopping bag. Thankfully the milk bottle had been cushioned by Reynir’s body. The eggs weren’t so lucky. “Maybe we can pick the shells out and scramble them,” Tuuri said. “At least they all stayed in the bag.” She waved off Reynir’s apologies and ushered him inside.

 

* * *

 

After days of travel, stepping into Tuuri’s apartment felt like coming home. It was nothing like the rambling farmhouse where he’d grown up, but it had the same sense of being shaped to the person who lived there. Scraps of paper dotted the walls, photographs of far-off places and old maps. More paper lay scattered across the tiny desk wedged into one corner, with a fresh page waiting in the typewriter. The moth-eaten couch had a small pile of mechanical parts on one cushion. A breathing mask hung from a peg by the door.  
“I know I don’t need it here,” Tuuri said when she caught him looking, “but old habits die hard, you know?”

He did know. There was a similar mask in his pack.

When they’d salvaged the eggs to the best of their ability—Reynir assured her that he didn’t mind a bit of shell—and each of them had half an omelette and a mug of tea, Tuuri returned to her line of questioning. “So why exactly are you in Reykjavik?” she asked, wedging herself next to him on the couch. A bolt rolled down from the heap of metal on the cushion next to her, leaving a smudge on her pants. “Tell me properly this time, I want to know everything! How’s school? Are you back for good, did they transfer you, or—no, I’m babbling. You talk now.”

Reynir swallowed a bite of his eggs and tried not to think about how her shoulder pressed against his. “I’m only here for a week or so—it’s our mid-term break—then it’s back to Eskifjörður for another month and a half. I was going to visit my family, but...I’ve never really spent any time in Reykjavik. The Academy kept me too busy. And...well.” He took a deep breath, “I don’t know about you, but ever since the Silent World...it’s not really the same, is it? Home doesn’t seem like home anymore.” _And I love my family, but there was someone more important I had to see._

Tuuri sighed. “I know exactly what you mean. Going back to Keuruu...even for a little while, it didn’t feel right.” She settled deeper into the couch, almost resting her head on his shoulder.  “And Reykjavik isn’t what I expected, either. I miss...the team.”

“I miss you too. All of you, I mean. The team.” Reynir shoveled eggs into his mouth to stop himself from saying something else embarrassing. _For a second I thought...but no. She probably has a lot going on here, she isn’t sitting around missing_ me _in particular._

“But you have all your mage school friends, don’t you? You’ve mentioned them in your letters. And I bet you’re learning so much!”

Reynir laughed. “Oh, sure. The girls are great. They’re all way ahead of me though, magic-wise. Most of them have been training for years! But...at least I can still help them with some things.”

“Like reaching the tall shelves?” Tuuri’s eyes glinted with mischief.

“That too. But actually, I have something better.” He’d planned to save this for later, but...it seemed like a good time. _I hope she likes it._ “Let me show you.”

 

* * *

 

Tuuri had expected Reynir to draw a rune or do some other kind of obvious magic. Instead, he levered himself off the couch and crossed the room to where he’d left his travel-pack. After rummaging around for a minute, he came back with a lumpy bundle in his arms. “You know I was experimenting with runes when we were off in the Silent World? Well, I’m not really supposed to make up my own anymore—not until I’ve learned all the usual ones, anyway—but I thought there must be other ways to use what they’re teaching me. And my parents keep sending me yarn to keep my hands busy, so...I made this. For you.” He held out the package, and Tuuri took it.

Soft wool spilled over her hands. She noticed the colors first: blue and grey and white, with a few rows picked out in rust red. Then she saw the patterns, and some of them she recognized—she’d seen them carved on doorframes or drawn on the inside covers of books. “Runes?” She looked up from the sweater to meet Reynir’s eyes, and she found her own eyes were wet. “You knit me a rune sweater?”

“They’re just little runes,” he said, “for health and protection, things like that. Oh, and one to repel water. That one seems to work, at least, but I can’t be sure about the other ones.”

Tuuri traced a swirl of white yarn with her finger. “It’s so beautiful.”

“You like it?”

“I _love_ it!” Tuuri caught him in a fierce hug. “Thank you.”

Reynir hugged her back, and for some reason the warmth of his arms made her tear up all over again. So she didn’t let go right away, just stood there and let him hold her. _Gods, I missed you so much. I wish you didn’t have to go so soon._ And speaking of going...

“Reynir...where are you staying?”

“Hmm?”

Tuuri pulled away so he could hear her better. “Where are you staying while you’re here? The Academy? It’s all the way across town, isn’t it?”

For some reason his face turned bright red. “Oh, no, haha...they don’t have the dorms open right now, not with all the students gone. I guess I haven’t really thought about it? I should find a hostel or something before it gets too late.”

“What? No, don’t be silly. You can stay here! It’s small, but I have a perfectly good—well, okay, it’s not _perfect,_ but it’s a couch.”

“Really?” If anything, this made Reynir blush harder. “If you’re sure...I wouldn’t want to be in your way.”

 _Well, I was just thinking about how I missed tripping over him._ “Don’t worry about that. Stay. Please?”

The smile on his face warmed Tuuri down to her toes. “All right then. I’d like that.”

She told herself, as she found a spare pillow and hunted enough blankets to make a decent cover—he was so tall that his feet stuck out if he only used one—that she was only doing what she would do if any of the crew showed up on her doorstep. And she probably _would_ do the same for Sigrun or Mikkel if they arrived unexpectedly. But after she said good night and closed the door to her tiny bedroom, she let out a long sigh and slumped against the wall. _He’s really here. He’s here, sleeping on my couch, right in the next room. And part of me wishes he was sleeping in here with me instead. Oh, help. Where did that thought come from?_

She didn’t have an answer for that. All she had was an empty bed and a sweater that smelled like the man in the next room. So she curled up around its woolen bulk and pulled the blankets over her head, willing sleep to come and smooth out her unsettled thoughts.

 

* * *

 

Reynir opened his eyes expecting to find the idyllic calm of his dream haven. Instead, he found himself surrounded by people, all asking questions at once.

“Did you tell her? What did she say?”

“Who cares what she _said,_ did she kiss you?”

“Are you going to get married?”

“Will she come live at the Academy with you?”

“You _did_ tell her, didn’t you?”

The last question cut through the rest, causing a lull in the conversation. Reynir found Kjersti in the crowd and answered her.

“Umm, well...no. Not exactly.”

“Reynir!”

He held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I only just got to Reykjavik! What was I supposed to do, show up at her door and blurt out ‘I love you’?”

Reynir hadn’t known it was possible for so many people to roll their eyes all at once. “Yes! What are you waiting for?” Lilja pushed her way to the front of the crowd and smacked him on the arm. “Just get it over with.”

“Have you at least _seen_ her?” Kjersti asked, pulling Lilja aside before she could hit Reynir again.

Finally, a question he had a good answer for. “Yes! I’m sleeping on her couch right now. And I gave her the sweater.”

Whispers broke out among the gathered girls. Everyone knew about the famous Tuuri sweater. “And what did she think of it?” Kjersti pressed.

“Umm…” Reynir fidgeted with his braid, “She cried? But only a little, and I think they were happy tears. She hugged me.”

Kjersti sighed. “Reynir, I think you have to just...tell her how you feel. Tomorrow, before you come up with another reason to put it off.”

“But...what if she—”

“If she says no, isn’t it better to get it out of the way? And if she says yes...you’ll have a whole week with her. Time to figure out your next steps.”

“And a week’s worth of kisses,” Lilja added.

They were right, and Reynir knew it. “Okay, you win. I’ll tell her as soon as I wake up tomorrow.”

But when he woke, Tuuri was gone.

 

* * *

 

Tuuri shuffled papers at her desk, trying to sort out which of them she could ignore for a few days and which she had to take care of _now._ Given the choice, she wouldn’t have come into work at all; she’d much rather spend the whole day with Reynir, even if her heart did skip a beat every time he looked at her. But she hadn’t known he was coming, and some of these transcriptions really _had_ to get done. So she’d left him a note to meet her later, wheedled a few days’ leave time out of her boss, and plunged into her to-do pile. If she got the most important stuff out of the way this morning, maybe she could take the afternoon off, too.

She was so caught up in her task that she didn’t notice she had company until the woman spoke. “That’s some lovely work.”

“Wha? Oh, uh, thank you.” The words popped out automatically before Tuuri had time to think. Then she did a double-take and looked more closely at her visitor. “I’m sorry, what?”

The woman laughed. She waved a hand, indicating Tuuri’s body with a sweep of her flowing sleeve. “That sweater. The craftsmanship is impressive on its own, but I’ve never seen one with runes worked in. Do you know who made it?”

Tuuri smiled down at the soft wool. “Oh, yes. A friend made it for me. He’s a mage student. Reynir Árnason.”

“Only a student?” The woman raised an eyebrow. “Then I’m even more impressed. That’s some complicated rune work for a beginner. And when I was at the Academy I remember being so busy I just collapsed at the end of the day. He must be a very dear friend, to put so much effort into this.”

“He is,” Tuuri whispered. And she hadn’t even realized it until he wasn’t around.

“Well, you’re lucky to have him. I look forward to seeing where he ends up after his training. We need more mages who are willing to try new things.”

The mage lady took her leave, but her words stayed with Tuuri long after she was gone. _Trying new things. That describes Reynir perfectly, doesn’t it? Even in the Silent World, where he wasn’t supposed to be, he always did his best to find new ways to help._ And now that he was learning how to use his magic, he’d probably be a great mage someday. _After he leaves school...well, who knows where he’ll end up? He might be halfway across the Known World, doing big important magic._ But that was far in the future. Right now, Reynir was here in Reykjavik, and so was she. She couldn’t let the chance pass her by. _I won’t let him leave again without telling him how much he means to me._ She turned back to her paperwork with a sigh. _First, though, I have to get this done._

 

* * *

 

_Nordic Council Headquarters. Noon. I’ll meet you out front. - Tuuri_

Reynir read the note again, trying not to stare too obviously at the clock. He focused instead on the curves of Tuuri’s handwriting, the way she dotted the “i” in her name with a little heart. _She’ll be here any minute now. And when I see her, I’ll tell her._

As it turned out, she saw him before he saw her. He only had a split second of warning—a blur of motion coming from the side—before her hug knocked the breath out of him.

“EEEEEE!!!”

“Oof!”

He wrapped his arms around her without thinking, steadying her with one hand while burying the other in her hair. Before he could pull himself together and withdraw, she tipped her head back and smiled. Any thoughts about moving dissipated like dew in the morning sun.

“Tuuri,” he murmured. He should tell her now. Find words to express everything he felt. But when he opened his mouth, all that came out was, “Hey.”

“Hey, Reynir.” She made no move to pull away from him. If anything, she moved closer, and raised one hand to brush a stray curl back from his forehead. “Can I ask you something?”

“S-sure.”

“You didn’t really come to Reykjavik just to see the city, did you?”

“No.” His tongue loosened, and now the words came easily. “I wanted to see you. I’ve missed you like crazy, and...well, I love you, Tuuri.” There it was.

“Oh, good.” Her smile brightened, and something warm fluttered in his chest. She leaned into his embrace. “That makes two of us, then. I love you too.”

She rose up on her toes, and he ducked his head down to meet her.  When she kissed him, he thought he might explode with joy.

 

* * *

 

“So you’ll only be in Eskifjörður for another month or two, right?” They strolled back to Tuuri’s apartment, holding hands and paying no attention to the rain that fell everywhere except where they walked. A few of the runes on Tuuri’s sweater glowed, but they didn’t notice those, either.

“They said a month and a half, but they might send us back sooner.” Reynir squeezed Tuuri’s hand, and she squeezed back.

“And then you’ll be in Reykjavik for good?”

“Until I finish my training. It’ll be busy, of course, but we do get days off. And some time in the evenings. After that…”

“After that?”

They stopped on the sidewalk in front of her building, exchanging hopeful smiles. “After that...we go wherever life takes us.” Tuuri opened the door, and Reynir followed her. Together they went up the stairs and into the future.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic got derailed for a while because I was under the mistaken impression that the mage Academy was somewhere in rural Iceland, far away from the capital. When I realized it was actually _in_ Reykjavik, I had to improvise to make Reynir's journey seem like a grand gesture. But! All is well now. As long as no one got any cavities from reading this, that is.


End file.
